Consistency is the key--down 9.4 lbs since Oct. 11

Friday, November 01, 2013

I hit a big milestone at my weigh-in today, which was losing 5% of my body weight. Since starting Weight Watchers on Oct. 11, I have lost a total of 9.4 lbs.

Why has Weight Watchers being working so well when online trackers haven't?

I think it's several things. I should note that I am obviously still an active member of Spark while I am writing about Weight Watchers.

The first thing I think that's really been working for me is having the the flex points. I have a minimum amount of points to eat every day, but if I go out or get really hungry one night, I have my flex points to fall back on. Online trackers give you an average value of kilocalories you should eat per day of the week, but you don't really get room to "mess-up" or eat less healthy once in a while. And it's okay to do so once in a while. If we deprive ourselves, when we do "mess-up" or eat less healthy, we tend to go overboard.

Another thing that's really been working for me is having one value to deal with. Everything is "points." This single number takes protein, carbs, fiber, and fat into account. I could look at a food that is only 400 kCal and think that's not bad...but on Weight Watchers, I see that's it's 13 points, or half of my daily point value.

The meetings help a lot. While I don't like the fact my schedule is forcing me to go to a 7 a.m. meeting, I always find it's worthwhile to drag myself there. It's great to sit around and talk to people that have similar concerns as you.

And when you reach a milestone, they ask: What's been different?

Well, I think for me, in addition to tracking and using the Weight Watcher points system instead of kCal, I am being more consistent. There were a couple of weeks where I ran soley on weekends and not during the week. But this week I decided that it didn't matter whather I went slow or fast. I was just gonna go out and run. Ever since deciding to stick to two 3-5 mile runs during the week and one 5-6 mile run on the weekend, I have been consistent. And enjoying it. In addition, it's been helping me clear my mind. I just go out now with my headphones and run for a few miles, not caring about my pace. It doesn't matter. I am getting exercise regardless of my pace, and the whole point of running as my choice exercise is because I enjoy it. So why not let go and enjoy it? :)

I mentioned in my last blog how large I looked in my Labor Day photos with my ex. I told a couple of friends this, and they both responded the same way: "Were you not exercising?" For one that was kind of an annoying question...if they had paid attention to my life, they would have known that I ran a half marathon on Sept 15. I remember mentioning long runs to them. But it was also annoying because for some reason people seem to assume that a weight gain means you aren't exercising. I gained weight because of stress, and because at this point in my life I wasn't eating right. The ex and I would go out to eat a lot, and it was frequently pub food...hamburger, fries, fried appetizer, large beers...And not only that, we would eat everything on our plates. No, I don't blame him for the weight gain. We were unhealthy together, despite the fact that I was running. Without him in my life, I focus more on my health. If he doesn't want to be healthy, that's his decision. We were doing well before he went away for a week for his float trip and sat around all day drinking cheap beer. he came back very out of shape. He had thought about running the half marathon on Sept 15 with me, but he was in such miserable shape after just one week I think he just decided not to even try. But in addition to that, he kind of stopped running all together after that trip. Maybe he didn't really enjoy running. Maybe he never really caught the running bug. But then he needed to find some other form of cardio.

And now I am just rambling!

Last night for Halloween I went to karaoke with my choir. This was great; they are a great bunch of people. I am doing better about my other goal: be more social.

I feel like my life is falling more into place. My work environment has become somewhat monotonous. I haven't been putting in the time or effort that I should be to my classes, but honestly, there's only so much flooding my brain I can do. I know I *should* have spent more time on the last homework assignment, but I just felt like my head was spinning. I sort of feel like I'm just sliding by right now, but so far I've been doing fine in my classes so I guess it's okay. We will see.

Tomorrow I am doing a tailgate theme run followed by going up to the bar to watch the football game. And yes, I am going to order a margharita pizza. And yes, I am going to order a beer. But it's okay. I know that I don't *need* to eat the whole 12 inch pizza. I'll probably eat half, and that'll be sufficient. I know that I don't *need* to get the 22 oz beer instead of the 16 oz, despite the 22 oz being a better value. One 16 oz beer will be sufficient. Plus, I haven't had beer in so long it'll be great. Wow, I think it might've been a month since I've had a beer. (My ex and I would have a beer almost every time we ate.) But, I am not going to get a light beer. I am splurging, with my flex points, and I am going to get a beer I will actually enjoy. That's what my flex points are for. So, I have planned a combination of portion control and using my flex points. I guess I am opting for a healthier option by getting a pizza with vegetable versus meat toppings.

When you down to it, WW points plus values are just another way of tracking Calories (kcal to you) It used to be that 50 Calories was 1 points. The PPV values put a different spin on things, but protein is still 4 Cal/gram, carbohydrates 4 Cal/gram and fat 9 Cal/gram. And of course alcohol is still 7 Cal/gram but has no food value. So when we use Protein, Cabs, and Fat to calculate PPV, we are stil using Calories. just in an easy to recall format.